Good morning New York! Day two of our bridal excursion weekend started at Balthazar for breakfast in the SoHo district. We’ve heard good things about this place, and we weren’t disappointed. When you walk in, you feel like you have been transported to a beautiful French brasserie. The decor is beautiful! It’s classic French throughout.

We started out with a wonderful cup of coffee and a round of their kir rose. The coffee was good and strong. Just what we needed! The kir rose was delicious. It was refreshing and light. For our food entrees, I ordered the avocado and poached eggs on toast. It came with a tomato jalapeño salsa. It was delicious. The eggs were poached perfectly, and the salsa and avocado were the perfect paring. Eric ordered the eggs en cocotte, which is eggs, cream and thyme baked in a ramekin. The presentation was stunning, and it tasted great. It’s a classic French dish and they nailed it.

Balthazar was a wonderful experience. The staff went above and beyond to make us feel welcome, and the service was impeccable. We’ve been to some fantastic restaurants for breakfast or brunch in New York, and this place ranks with the best of them. If you’re in the mood for a wonderful breakfast in trendy SoHo, but feel like you are in Paris, you have to come here!

After a wonderful breakfast, we headed uptown for a private tour of the ABC television network building and studios. My fiancé, Eric, works for the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia. He’s good friends with some of the staff in New York and told them that we were going be in town. They graciously invited us for a visit, and we had a great time. After our tour, we were in the mood for a quick drink. We went to Cafe Fiorello, which is literally across the street from Lincoln Center. We couldn’t spend a lot of time here unfortunately, since I had my bridal fitting coming up soon.

Cafe Fiorello is a very spacious, warm and inviting restaurant. There is seating at the bar, the restaurant itself, and at their antipasto bar. We sat at the antipasto bar and it was wonderful. There were so many food selections, and they all looked amazing. This place is definitely on our list to come back for lunch or dinner. I ordered a glass of sancerre, and Eric ordered a wonderful rum cocktail. Our server was so nice that he gave us a sample of their limoncello, and salted chocolates. I can’t wait to come back and really try their food items. I have no doubt everything will be delicious.

It was time for my first bridal fitting. Eric accompanied me to Kleinfeld’s where we met up with my maid of honor, her daughter, and her mother. It was time for Eric to take off, but don’t worry readers. This is New York City. He already had planned where he was going to go and wait for me. The place he found was so good, that I went there after my fitting, and we made a dinner reservation for the next time we were in New York. The place is Boqueria. Trust me when I say, if you love Spanish food and tapas, you absolutely have to come here. Another great find by my fiancé!

Boqueria is an amazing restaurant. It has such an authentic, Spanish tapas restaurant feel to it. There are a couple of locations, but we visited the one in the Flatiron District. Eric first started with their version of a Moscow Mule, which he said was delicious. It was vibrant and very refreshing. He then ordered the cojonudo, which is quail egg and chorizo on toast points. He absolutely loved it. The presentation was stunning. He ordered a glass of Spanish sherry to go with it, and texted me that he was in heaven. I was getting jealous! He finished his snack with a glass of 2016 La Tremenda red wine that blew him away. He told me it was so good, that after my fitting, we had to come back for a quick bite and drink. And we did!

I immediately fell in love with Boqueria. It was everything Eric said it was. It had the authentic Spanish tapas restaurant feel, the staff were super friendly, and the food and wine were amazing! I tried a glass of the La Tremenda wine and it was so good! My fiancé knows his wines. I taught him well! We also ordered another tapas plate to go with it. I got the montado de bistec, which was a perfectly cooked hanger steak, shishito pepper, aioli, and salsa verde on a toast point. It was absolutely delicious. I had such a wonderful experience in the short time I was here that we made a reservation for dinner when we would be back in New York in a couple weeks for my second fitting. Don’t worry, you’ll be getting a full report on dinner soon!

We went back to our hotel and got ready for dinner. We were finally going back to one of my favorite restaurants, Butter. It’s owned and operated by my favorite chef, Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli. The decor is stunning, and the food is amazing. She wasn’t at the restaurant this evening but her second in command, Michael Jenkins, was there and we got to meet him. He was so nice!

We started out with a couple of cocktails. Eric ordered Dorothy Meets Perry. It was made with Dorothy Parker gin, egg whites, glenmorangie, b&b liquor, rosemary, and orange juice. It was amazing. The combination of ingredients and flavors was incredible. I ordered the Dirty Dancing, which was made with Hendricks gin, sage liquor, St. Germain elderflower, and salted grapefruit water. It was so good. The balance of flavors was just amazing.

We told them that we were in New York for my first bridal fitting and they treated us so well! They sent out a complimentary glass of champagne, and a couple of small bites. One was a beautiful roasted small corn dish, and the other was a walnut and heirloom tomato bruschetta. Everything was fantastic. We couldn’t believe that they did this for us. They are such an amazing group of people here!

It happened to be Restaurant Week in New York, so Eric ordered off that menu. He started with their Hepworth Farm little gem lettuce, which came with toasted walnuts, green radishes, and a tarragon and shallot vinaigrette. It was delicious. The dressing was absolutely delicious. For his entree, he got the pan roasted striped bass that came with Prince Edward Island mussels, wild fennel, and smoked lemon. Again, it was simply delicious. Eric said it was one of the best striped bass dishes he’s ever had. For dessert, he got the rum-poached ebony sweet plums, with coconut ice cream and a ginger crumble. It was so good. It had some of his favorite flavors, such as coconut, rum and ginger. HE was in heaven!

I ordered their gnocchi mac and cheese for my appetizer. It was so good that it brought me to tears! It literally melted in your mouth. It was out of this world. For my entree, I got the petite Hudson Valley duck breast. It came with braised Tuscan kale, cherry jam, and sorrel. The duck was cooked perfectly, and the Tuscan kale was delicious. It was so good that we buy it know whenever we go food shopping. For dessert, I got the millionaire shortbread, which consisted of a chocolate ganache, caramel fudge, and Maldon sea salt. It was fantastic. The salt was a perfect balance to the sweetness of the dish.

With our wonderful meal, we ordered a bottle of a 2014 Taltarni shiraz. It was fantastic. It had the right amount of spice and flavor, and just went perfectly with our food. Once again, our experience at Butter was simply amazing. The fact that they took such good care of us, and brought out a couple of complimentary dishes, just goes to show how amazing this place and the staff are here. I can’t stop raving how good Butter is. You simply have to come here whenever you are in New York.

Well, that wrapped up day two in New York. It was a very full and busy day, but it was so much fun. Trying out new restaurants, visiting the ABC television station, and my bridal fitting made for a wonderful day.